Soon after the 1991 bludgeoning death of Marie Nicholaides, her husband began moving on with his life.

George Neptune Nicholaides, then 36, collected two substantial life-insurance claims and, within months, started living with his personal assistant, Lisa Hunter, who was then 23, said Bruce Isaacson, cold-case investigator for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.

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George Nicholaides collected the insurance proceeds even though he has remained a suspect in his wife’s death since shortly after he reported finding her bloodied body just inside the front door of their home on May 23, 1991.

Marie Nicholaides

George Nicholaides and another man were the only two people ever identified as suspects in the murder, Isaacson said. The other man, whose name was not released, had an alibi, Isaacson said. Now George Nicholaides is the only suspect.

“He is still under the umbrella of suspicion,” Isaacson said.

George Nicholaides, who married Hunter in August 1992, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Marie Nicholaides worked as an account manager for Digital Equipment Corp. She and George married in Boston, and the couple moved to Colorado when Digital moved its headquarters to Denver. The couple had a young boy, Isaacson said.

George Nicholaides was a contractor and together with Marie formed a homebuilding company called Gema Homes. When that company failed, George Nicholaides started another homebuilding business, Espre Homes, Isaacson said.

On May 23, 1991, Marie felt ill while at work at Digital, Isaacson said. She went home early at about 2 p.m., he said.

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At 5 p.m., her husband called 911.

He said that when he brought his young son home, he found the front door ajar.

Sheriff’s office photograph of the Nicholaides home in the 6900 block of Ulster Circle on the day of the murder.

Marie’s body was just inside the entrance of their Walnut Hills home. She was still clutching her car keys and mail, indicating that she was attacked immediately after walking in. The killer had beaten her over the head with an object that has never been found, Isaacson said.

From the beginning, investigators classified the murder as either a burglary gone wrong or a murder staged as a burglary.

Investigators found electronics equipment stacked in the living room as though an intruder had been surprised by Marie’s unexpected arrival, killed her and then ran from the scene.

The trouble with the burglary theory is that there were no signs of a break in, neighbors had not reported seeing any suspicious cars in the area and attacks by burglars are highly unusual, Isaacson said.

“My experience is that most burglars don’t want confrontation,” he said. “They enter homes when they believe no one is home. If they see someone, they run to avoid getting caught.” Their motive is stealing, not killing, he said.

A witness told investigators that he saw someone at the house at about the time Marie Nicholaides would have been attacked. Isaacson said he could not comment on the identity of the person who was seen.

George Nicholaides managed home-construction projects and often came and went from different sites as part of his job.

Confirming his whereabouts at the time his wife was attacked is a critical part of the cold-case investigation, Isaacson said.

After his wife’s murder, George Nicholaides spoke repeatedly with investigators until it was apparent that he was the focus of their investigation, and he stopped talking with them, Isaacson said. He denied involvement in his wife’s murder.
There has been insufficient evidence to charge anyone with the murder.

Although George Nicholaides remains a suspect, investigators are interested in acquiring all leads.

“We’re not focusing on just one person,” Isaacson said.

Contact information: Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact investigator Bruce Isaacson of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office at 720-874-4022 or Denver Post reporter Kirk Mitchell at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com/.